MELINDO: GO GET YOUR OWN BELT
Milan Melindo says he’s not willing to face Randy Petalcorin in defense
Milan Melindo is more keen on unifying the light flyweight division rather than defending his International Boxing Federation (IBF) light flyweight strap against a fellow Filipino.
“I want a unification. I don’t want to fight a fellow Filipino. Instead of having more world
Newly-crowned IBF light flyweight champion wants to unify 108-lb. division
champions, why do we have to fight each other? There are lots of belts. Why don’t they fight for the other titles,” Melindo said last Tuesday night after a arriving from a successful stint in Japan.
No. 4 rated IBF light flyweight Randy Petalcorin recently challenged Melindo to an all-Filipino world championship fight that has never been done in 92 years since Pancho Villa defeated Clever Sencio for the world flyweight belt in 1925.
Melindo’s coach Edito Villamor, a former world title contender in his heyday in the 90s, and ALA Promotions president Michael Aldeguer believe that there is no point in having two Filipinos fighting each other in the world championship level unless it’s mandated by the sanctioning body.
“A Filipino vs. Filipino can be done if they are still prospects or maybe if we already have a lot of world champions,” said Villamor.
“If it’s mandatory, then we would have no choice. But if we had our way, it would be better for a Filipino to fight for another world title as the Philippines needs more world champions for the sport to
WBA, WBC, and WBO champions are all Japanese fighters
thrive,” Aldeguer said.
“We can do big fights for the upcoming prospects to see who is the real deal who can represent the country for world title fights. But in the world championship level, if it’s not mandatory, then there is no point for both Filipinos to fight when the country just has a few world champions.”
The 29-year-old Melindo, 36-2 with 13 knockouts, shocked Japan last Sunday night after taking out Japanese star Akira Yaegashi in a single round, after sending him three times to the canvass, at the Ariake Colosseum in Tokyo.
Incidentally, the other three world champions in the light flyweight division, which Melindo wants to unify, are all Japanese.
Unbeaten Ken Shiro (10-0, 5 KOs) is the new World Boxing Council (WBC) champion after dethroning Ganigan Lopez last Saturday; Kosei Tanaka (9-0, 5 KOs) is the WBO titleholder; and Ryoichi Taguchi (25-2-2, 11 KOs) holds the World Boxing Association (WBA) belt.
Melindo’s target ring return is on September either here in the Philippines or outside the country. /